Incident Management goal to restore normal service as quick as possible creates the need for the problem management analyst position. In my company we have implemented PM with one manager and four analysts.

On a daily basis they are seeking out root cause of outages and managing large incidents through a emergency response procedure that mimics the ITSCM manager's approach but to a lesser scale.

Hope this helps

shmurphy wrote:

I have the oppportunity to change my direction and become a problem manager. I do enjoy the incident and escalation management function I have been performing.

Wondered if anyone out there has an indication on the position level between Incident manager and problem manager?

Since Problem Management often (though the function is sometime performed by Availability Management staff) conducts Major Incident reviews a Problem Analyst would be considered a Senior Incident Analyst at a minimum. Traditional diagnostic skills would need be supported by specific training and knowledge in root cause analysis, Kepner-Tregoe and other investigative approaches. Additionally, since the exercise would often involve coordinating changes through Change Management and making decision with regard to resource allocation the position would likely involve some management functions and delegations of authority.

I think there may be a parrallel between Problem Management staff and Customer Relationship Teams, though each has their respective sphere of interest. CRM staff are usually at or approaching an intermediate management level in the organization for which a next logical step would be an IT Management role. PM staff might be one level below that.

The Incident Manager gets hazard pay because she is directly in the fire. Typically, however, the Incident Manager is working with skill individuals which are reactive and calm under fire.

The Problem Manager is more of a strategic role and spends a greater portion of time interacting with the Customer ( end user ) and the rest of IT. As a result the Problem Manager tends to be more deliberative and an excellent communicator, time and people manager.

Which of these skills is better rewarded is a cultural issue. Some Companies reward action oriented people more than People and process oriented people.